Continued from Day 1.

Day 2 of the Best of Anime 2011 brings more excitement with a talent competition, a band contest, and more cosplay! Running all-weekend-long last 17th and 18th of September at the SMX Convention Center, The Best of Anime 2011 was organized by Primetrade Asia Inc., as a co-located event of the 2011 Manila International Book Fair.

Being a Sunday, the vibe was more laid-back in the hall — allowing participants to peruse the booths at leisure. I was able to look over the other booths that were nearly impossible to get to the day before — such as the Harajuku Lovers booth (which was selling signature perfumes are steep discounts) and the recruitment stands of different animation and digital art schools.

The second day of competitions featured a talent show and a band competition, which unfortunately took up a lot more time that it should have, and pushed back the rest of the day’s events. There was also an overly-long fashion show by one of the event sponsors, which further delayed the program. Thankfully the cosplayers were very patient, and pretty soon they got their second wind and were battling it out for the honor of being The Best of Anime 2011.

Some of the stand-outs of the afternoon’s cosplay catwalk was Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tale and Suigintou from Rozen Maiden. However, the competition was truly fierce — and all three eventual winners were champions from previous conventions. I managed to get a quick video from the Judges Section so you see for yourselves how Voltes V and his robot pals (frienemies?) stole the show, and helped him walk away with the Grand Prize.

The Best of Anime Cosplay Winners:

3rd Place: Izabel Cortez (Guyver Valcuria — Guyver)
2nd Place: Don Robert Torio (Bon Clay — One Piece)
1st Place: Pablo Bairan (Voltes V)

Delays from the earlier stage events notwithstanding, Day 2 was still pretty good thanks to the quality of cosplay presented at the competition. Perhaps at next year’s event, the band competition entries can be screened beforehand, and only the top five bands be given performance slots. Likewise, the stage time for sponsors should be strictly monitored to prevent a 30-minute segment from ballooning past the 90-minute mark.

That said, the event was hugely successful — it had a good variety of booths, a fantastic mix of events, and a stellar turnout. Major props are due the Primetrade Asia staff — especially to The Best of Anime coordinator Ms. Karla Dimaala and Primetrade Asia President Ms. Irene LLoren. Congratulations to you all, and we hope to see you all again next year!

Thanks to The Best of Anime 2011 and Primetrade Asia for the asking us to be an official affiliate for a second year in a row.